their convictions. they honestly believe people of anger and rejection, that they're the majority. if they really believe that, they'll nominate gingrich. >> that was barney frank earlier this evening. i'm "the ed show." you can listen to me on channel 127 monday through friday. we'll originate the show on washington, d.c. tomorrow, and this show will come from the n following the state of the union address. the rachel mad dow show starts right now. we'll see you tomorrow night. newt gingrich has released the contract he entered into with freddie mac. he'll be joining us in just a moment to tell us exactly what has been released tonight and whether or not the story come ports with newt gingrich's previous explanations of exactly how he earned that money from

freddie mac. conservatives have developed a critique of what happened during the financial meltdown during the bush presidency, plays down the importance of wall street and plays up the importance of freddie mac and fannie mae and other things promoting home ownership. so it's made public that he took consulting fees while working for a home mortgage agency. mr. gingrich has done himself no favors in responding to that criticism when his first instinct was to say he wasn't paid for lobbying or consulting, he was more paid pas a historia. >> your firm was paid $300,000 in 2006 by freddie mac. what did you do with that money? >> my life as a historian was when he came up and said.

>> how many hundreds of thousands? how do i get a gig like that. the historian line also led to this attack ad in florida by mitt romney against newt gingrich. >> while florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, newt gingrich cashed in. gingrich was paid over $1.6 million by the same agency that helped create the crisis. >> my advice was as a historian. >> a historian? really? >> the contract released tonight seems newt gingrich wants to have this nipped in the bud by having this contract released right away, as soon as he was asked for them. if romney releases his tax returns, it's still an outstanding demand. after changing his position on his tax returns a lot, mr. romney says he will release his 2010 tax returns and an estimate of the number on his 2011 returns tomorrow.

but that question about mitt romney's tax returns are outstanding and we still don't know if he'll release any other years. so gingrich trying to shut up about this, but the even wider context here is that mitt romney has yet to come up with a failable position on the housing crisis. because florida's housing crisis is really, really awful, and nevada's is even worse, and that's the next contest. and so far mitt romney's most notable statement on the record about the housing crisis is this one. >> as to what you do for the housing industry specifically, and are there things that you can do to encourage housing? one is don't try and stop the foreclosure process, let it run its course and hit the bottom. >> but the macro level of context, yes, there is another level of context. the macro level of context or the widest level of context is that the republican establishment is freaking out --

freaking out -- that newt gingrich might be their nominee. >> we all know the record. he won out the speakership by his own party, this is a guy who has had a very difficult political career at times. and it has been an embarrassment to the party. >> people all across this country are waking up. they're saying, good god, newt gingrich might be at the top of this ticket. >> believe me, republicans in congress will be in fear running for this man for fewer they'll lose the house and the senate, and they'll fear he can't win this election and bring more down with him. >> in washington, truckloads of sham pay champagne are going to the republican office and whiskey is

going to the democratic office. >> if that was not clear enough, here was the wall street journal editorial page. quote, if the gops had a better candidate, they should have rallied behind one to get in the race. and they still could, if the primary contest drags on without a clear winner. the facebook page still trying to elect new candidates before the primaries are done. they shut down that surge by having established figures come out and talk a lot of smack about him, and burying him with a lot of money. they thought that newt gingrich was politically dead after they threw all of that at him. now he is reanimated. gallup, the same polling company who called mitt romney collapsing over the weekend, today shows romney collapsing even further.

in florida, especially, newt gingrich posting even bigger leads on today's polls. what killed it before was the establishment coming after him and the direct fire from mitt romney. honestly, in terms of the direct fire, this that mitt romney is hitting him with in florida almost makes him look weaker than newt gingrich. and the establishment? there is no way i could put this better than what republican strategist steve schmitt said about it on our air on saturday night when it became clear that newt gingrich was running away with it in stk sk. i thought he might explode on camera. >> we're probably moving toward the declaration of war on newt gingrich by the republican establishment. if newt gingrich is able to win the florida primary, you will see a panic and a meltdown of the republican establishment that is beyond my ability to articulate in the english language. >> joining us now with the newly released newt gingrich/freddie

mac contract on hand is the legendary mr., a s ar-- mr. isa. >> it is the consulting firm founded by newt gingrich that has a contract by freddie mac released it tonight just a couple hours before the nbc news debate, and this is in response to the sort of mounting drumbeat from the romney campaign saying, show us what you did for freddie mac, show us your contract, show us everything you've got. and at the same time, of course, gingrich had been pressing for release of romney's tax returns. so in order, i think, to sort of basically help support gingrich's drumbeat for disclosure by romney, he p

preemptively released this contract. but i have to say it raises more questions than it answers. first of all, it provides no life on what gingrich actually did for freddie mac. the contract itself provides for $25,000 a month, $300,000 a year in 2006 to provide consulting and other services. nothing in the contract gives you any hint of what that consulting consisted of or what gingrich actually did. two side points to that, we know that this 2006 contract was a follow-up to an earlier 1999 contract that gingrich first had with freddie mac. when i asked where was the 1999 contract, i was told by the spokeswoman this evening they can't find it, nor can they find the renewal of that 1999

contract in 2002. so there is the earlier arrangement that has not been released. and then i asked for what about the written documents, reports that gingrich group may have provided for freddie mac? are are those? and i was first told there were no written reports, there were no produced reports, and then later when i pressed them further on that, you know, with a big question mark, huh, we were told they were not authorized to release any big, written reports. so the big question, what did newt gingrich actually do for freddie mac? we know he got paid a lot of money. if you add up all those consulting contracts, it adds up to about 1.6. maybe more than that, 1.8 million depending on when that original agreement was signed, but we don't know what he actually did. >> brieflying micha inbriefly,

there is a conservative contract here is he was not a lobbyist. is there anything we can tell, like who he was reporting to at freddie mac who could explain how he was functioning at their organization? >> funny you should ask. yes, we can. the contract, the first page, shows he was reporting to the director of public policy for freddie mac, a man by the name of craig thomas, who, in fact, was one of freddie mac's top lobbyists. so the consulting work that newt gingrich was doing was for the freddie mac top lobbyist, but gingrich insists it did not consist of lobbying. actually, if you read closely the lobbying disclosure law and how it defines lobbying activities, it does say lobbying activity consists of work in preparation for lobbying or work as background material that's intended to help lobbying. so i think, again, the fact that he was reporting to a freddie

mac lobbyist does raise further questions of what he was actually doing. >> nbc news active investigate or isikoff. i feel better about it. thank you. $1.2 million for lobbying. how close to lobbying is that? big news out of washington state and indiana. the super bowl is there in two weeks. that's all ahead. -good morning, dave. -good morning, dave. dave. -hey, dave. -hey, dave. hey. -hey, dave. -mr. dave. -dave. -what's up, dave? -dave. -dave. dave. dave. dave?

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when newt gingrich won on saturday night, newt gingrich gave a speech. but it took him a long time to get to the podium to make a speech. we were told it took 15 minutes from the time he was told to give a speech to the time he actually gave it. we don't know if there was any booze, but by the time he started talking, it sounded like there might have been some beer mixed in with victory. >> newt, newt, newt, newt, newt, newt, newt, newt! >> what makes us different from

virtually every other country in the world is that we are free. we have to wonder how out of touch with reality this administration is. >> the newt gingrich crowd angry. happy. angry. happy. you know how that feels. it's good for them, it was a great night. there was one newt gingrich speaker crowd, though, where it wasn't clear what he was saying. it only became clear later. >> rick santorum showed enormous courage in iowa when he had no money, nobody covered him and he just kept campaigning. [ applause ] >> what they're yelling there, the crowd is yelling, vp, vp, as in, mr. gingrich, since you're going to be the republican

party's nominee, please choose rick santorum to be your running mate. look how he responds to the crowd when he's doing that. he gets this big grin. at this point in the presidential race, rick santorum does not look like he is going to win. grain of salt, he looked like he wasn't going to win in iowa, and it turns out i was wrong. after winning in iowa, he came in fifth place in new hampshire, a disconcerting fifth place in south carolina. he doesn't have the lift, even after winning iowa, you would expect him to have if he was going to win. anything is possible, but it doesn't seem like mr. santorum is not on a path toward winning, and if he's not on a path toward winning, what is his affect eff the race? republican voters know their choice is essentially romney or not romney and the more not

romneys there are, the better newt gingrich's chances are. mr. gingrich would love for santorum to stay in and split the not romney vote. what can i offer you, my dear friends? >> here is a guy who articulates the values of social conservatism, articulates the importance of manufacturing and who may have been as right about the dangers of iran as anybody in this country in the last ten years. >> please get out of the race! mr. santorum on saturday night praised mr. gingrich right back in his speech saying good job, buddy. but santorum has not kept up with the praising of newt gingrich. in fact mr. santorum in an op-ed in the wall street journal said he didn't prioritize social conservative issues, specifically abortion, to push them to the bottom of the agenda. on the occasion of the

anniversary of roe versus wade, mr. santorum describes fighting against abortion rights to the cause of which he has dedicated his life. right. if anybody knows anything about rick santorum the man on dog thing and also the abortion issue. that is what your whole reputation boils down to, senator, central challenge of your candidacy is broaden your appeal beyond those issues to convince people you can speak to some other issues besides just being anti-gay and anti-abortion. if this is just a contest about who is the most anti-abortion, then congratulations, rick santorum, you're running away with it. you may have gotten destroyed in new hampshire, came in fifth. looking at the exit poll results, one group of voters you won were voters who said that abortion was the most important issue motivating their vote. also in south carolina, you got destroyed, the one group of voters where you won majority of the vote, abortion was the most

important thing motivating their vote. the only other group was voters who said the most important quality was a strong moral character. ron paul came in second on that one, and you can see mr. gingrich and mr. romney way down the field on that one. so because he is already locking up the anti-abortion vote, but that is not enough to help him do well overall, it is a like strange that rick santorum chose to do a big high profile wall street journal op-ed, doubling down on what is his single issue of abortion. dude, you're winning the anti-abortion primary. what you're supposed to try to win is the race for the republican nomination. unless the race for the republican nomination sort of is the anti-abortion primary. so far the dirt y tricks we know about in the campaign, nasty anonymous smears that south carolina republicans are known for, dirty tricks have been about abortion. flyer left on the windshield of cars denigrating rick santorum's wife. fake cnn e-mail denigrating newt gingrich.

i could tell what the allegations are in theese dirty tricks, but that would be helping them do their work, so suffice it to say, nasty allegations related to the issue of abortion. so the dirty tricksters believe abortion is important enough to sway the race. further evidence the contest the anti-abortion primary, the next contest is in florida the republicans in the florida lecture last year filed 18 different pieces of anti-abortion legislation for their state. by our count they took some sort of action on nine of those bills and five anti-abortion measures were signed into florida law. they have started a new legislative session, there is an anti-abortion cue. three bills on the docket tomorrow. florida is not alone. on prioritizing abortion above all else, on the occasion of roe versus wade, the anti-abortion move is crowing about what a

great year they had. the president of americans united for life saying "the headlines were about the changing command in the house of representatives, what we were seeing was a tidal wave in state houses "wt when we saw the wave come in we ran the ball and ran with it. 28 laws we were involved with passed. it was breath taking. the anti-abortion movement taking its own breath away with their success since the republican victories in 2010. today the anti-abortion movement was treated to a speech by john boehner who said he's working to overturn roe versus wade decision. there have been more roll backs of abortion rights since the 2010 elections since it was passed 39 years ago. this massive, coordinated offensive against abortion rights by the republicans has frankly been aided by the fact that republicans love to campaign on this issue, democrats don't love to campaign on this issue. being pro choice is not a litmus test for the democratic party the way being pro life is for the republican party. there are lots of elected democrats opposed to abortion

rights. democrats not opposed abortion rights have not been willing to stand up and say that, much less campaign on being pro-choice. perhaps by virtue of the fact republicans have gone so far, both with anti-abortions laws and campaign promises, we're seeing real democratic push back in a big way. from the top, i sort of can't believe this did not get any press today, but this is remarkable. it's an e-mail from obama for america, the reelection campaign, signed by stephanie cutter, not just on the issue of abortion, also on contraception and other women's health issues. you never see something like this. on friday the obama administration announced soon women won't have to pay out of pocket for birth control. starting august 1st, many insurance plans nationwide will be required to fully cover

contra shin without copays or deductibles thanks to the affordable care act they cap make decisions best for them while saving hundreds of dollars. think how different that it is from what the candidates on the other side. they vowed to repeal the affordable care act. mitt romney said he would define life as beginning as conception, similar to the state level personhood amendment that could ban many forms of contraception and in vitro fertilization. explains how under health reform mammograms and health screens are free, then it goes back on the attack. at the same time, our opponents have been waging a war or women's health, attempting to defund planted parenthood, overturn roe versus wade. the president has stood firm against these attacks on women's health, but if we're going to protect our progress and have a chance to take even more steps forward, we need to show we have his back when the heat is on. then they ask you to sign a petition and puts you on their radar to raise money and to get out for the vote. with rick santorum or without,

the anti-abortion movement has so taken over the republican party now that they have turned the republican party's presidential nominating contest essentially into an anti-abortion primary. they might think that is good politics for them but leaves democrats wide open to lock up every pro choice vote in the country and then some. it seems like now they are finally trying to. joining us is alan grayson, represented florida's 8th district from 2009 to 2011. congressman grayson, it's nice to see you again. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> how central is rolling back abortion rights to what florida republicans are all about right now? >> i think it's quite central. our polling shows locally and this is true throughout the state, around 10% of the republican voters are strictly anti-choice vote. by the way, 10% of the democratic vote is a pro-choice vote, they are relatively equal. the difference is the republicans have nothing else going for them. if you ask the republicans what is your policy to get people

back to work, you hear blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. pretty much nothing. if you ask what you're going do about the world crisis, foreclosures, homeless people -- nothing. health care, allowing people to see a doctor when they are sick, nothing. what they do is use the abortion issue to distract people. they can't give them bread so they give them circuses. >> florida's vote is going to be the first primary this year that is closed, it's republicans only, there won't be democrats or independents participating. from your upclose and personal perspective what do you think we should understand about the republican mind set in florida? not just in terms of predicting the outcome but what is in the forefront of the voters minds as they head in the polls? there is four different elections going on, geographically spread. republican vote in the panhandle, republican vote on the i-4 corridor from daytona beach to orlando and tampa, a republican cuban vote and a republican jewish vote in south florida. and they're entirely different.

you will see mitt romney do well in the orlando-tampa area. he will do well in the southwest part of the state. i think he will have a lot of trouble with the cuban votes as he did in 2008. he's going to have a tremendous amount of trouble with the jewish vote in south florida. in the panhandle, you will see them split evenly i give the edge to gingrich and i think also you will see other candidates do well in the panhandle. >> why do you think prominent florida republicans like marco rubio and jeb bush aren't endorsing anybody. >> because they all look in the mirror each morning and they say, this guy looks like a vice president or even a president to me, and nobody wants to take the chance of guessing wrong. that's why. >> when lindsey graham was the only guy who didn't endorse in south carolina, he's the guy who won because all the rest voted for mitt romney and the state went against him? >> i think lindsey graham probably has the same thing in mind when he looks in the mirror, but i don't think that will happen. >> do you think that if rick santorum dropped out that his votes would go to newt gingrich at this point, is that the way things are splitting? >> yeah, i see a block of

semi-rationale people. i see small business supporting newt gingrich. -- mitt romney. i see fundamentalist christians whose vote is now split between gingrich and santorum. almost all of them in florida protestant and libertarians voting for ron paul. i do think that gingrich and santorum are fighting over the same vote and that vote will consolidate for one or the other. >> back to the abortion issue, anniversary of roe versus wade, always a big march around the time, a lot of promises and crowing from the anti-abortion movement. we really have seen a remarkable year. in a remarkable year of restricting abortion rights, florida stands out. 18 different pieces of anti-abortion legislation including five new anti-abortion restrictions passing in the state.

what accounts for that taking the forefront of the republican agenda, even as it popped up and was popular everywhere, florida seemed to have gone nuts. >> i think it's because democrats here in florida for some reason reluctant to make the case for pro choice. i think that is what it comes down to. i have no trouble telling people i think the most fundamental right is the right to control your own body. i hear very few others saying that. we left the playing field, that is a shame. >> former congressman alan greys grayson of florida. nice to have you back. >> thank you. >> still ahead, heroes, patriotism, parades, stay with us.

is here's what you need to know about the state of the union address. tomorrow night, our special coverage of the state of the union starts right here on msnbc at 8:00 p.m. eastern. we will have the president's address and republican party's official response, given by indiana governor mitch daniels. our special coverage of the state of the union including the big special event night desk and everything, starts tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. eastern. we will be right back.

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we learned this weekend which teams are going to the super bowl. the new york giants will represent the nfc after an unfortunate and presumably lonely san francisco 49er fumbled two punts he was trying to catch. that is how the giants punched their ticket to indianapolis. my beloved patriots won, more unfortunate and a baltimore raven missed a field goal from close in, winning the gratitude of millions of new englanders, sitting with their noses pressed up against their tv's. and also me. the games that decided who is going to the super bowl were weird games. both took place yesterday. the super bowl is not this weekend, it doesn't happen until two weekends from now. you want to know what happens next weekend? st. louis happens. this is what is happening in america this weekend. this upcoming saturday. st. louis, missouri is set to be the first city in the united

states to host a welcome home parade for the veterans of the iraq war. for 125 years america has publicly commemorated the end of the wars with parades. to welcome home the veterans. it's one small thing we have historically done to show our appreciation, to say welcome home. thank you for serving in this war. we're so glad you're back home. the war in iraq officially and finally ended last month. there has not been a parade in new york, or in washington d.c. the afghanistan war after all is still going on. but a grass roots effort, a really grass roots effort in st. louis has put the nation's first end of the iraq war welcome home parade on the calendar for this upcoming saturday. >> yes, i think we're going to make it, i think st. louis will not only make it but we'll lead the way for country, we'll set an example. >> the city it is taking motivating from the mayor's office to volunteers to

housewives, to -- it's amazing, what is happening right now. really made us believe that impossible thing was nonsense. >> by day the guy you saw that, craig schneider works in educational technology in a st. louis school district. he puts the computers together and make sure they work. that is what he does by day. by evening and night and early in the morning he has been raising money for the parade. getting veterans groups together to welcome the troops at the end of the parade. craig and another friend raised north of $25,000 so far on their facebook page. make january 28th welcome home the heros fromle the war day. after parade on saturday, groups that work with returning veterans will set up tables for a day-long event. craig and other volunteers hope to link up veterans aid groups from all 50 states. if you're helping troops in north dakota, say, craig the

computer guy says let him know, he will fix up with a table, flag and streaming video. he gets inspiration, one from his friend who won a bronze star, the other was seeing the city of st. louis organize a parade overnight for the cardinals after they won the world series. that showed that the parade thing could be done even on very short notice. joining us now for the interview is craig schneider, an organizer of the st. louis parade, to welcome home veterans of the iraq war. craig, congratulations and thanks for making time to talk to us, i'm sure this is a busy week for you right now. >> it is busy, thank you for having us, rachel, i'm a fan of your brain. >> i'll send it over to you, i haven't been using it recently. >> we'll take it, we're taking donations. >> you don't want that one. let me ask you about the basic start of this, how you got the idea to do it and once you got the idea, why you thought it was possible? >> we knew it was possible. we got the idea because no one else was doing it and someone could if they stepped up, we

knew we could. my friend tom and i were noticing the cardinals did it in short order, we can do it now. we love our heros from the baseball team, we have bigger heros coming home now, they deserve a parade, too, more than a parade, the veteran resource village thing. >> tell me about the veteran resource village, one of your partners is a resource center for veterans, their mission to veterans to tell veterans they are still needed. >> we paired up with the st. louis organization. they're a national organization but based next to us. they're called "mission continues." they do amazing work. they don't just give the soldiers a welcome home, they put them to work on jobs, to reinvesting in the community. their motto is "this isn't a

charity but it's a challenge. it's about a challenge. you have been able to make this happen in st. louis and we're not seeing it happen in new york city and in washington and some other big cities. part of the discussion nationally has been concern that with the afghanistan war still going on, you don't want to be welcoming people home who are still being deployed, awkwardness around that, but still you're tapping in something people felt like ought to be done. why do you think it happened in st. louis? >> i think it happened here because it had to start somewhere, st. louis we're in the middle of the country, just a small town city that knows how to get things done. we know how to stop saying that's impossible and if we have to get everything together from the mayor down to make it happen, this is a town with a great reputation, we knew it's the perfect place to do it. >> what about the ongoing war in afghanistan? i imagine you have been not just talking with veterans resource centers but veterans themselves. is that a complication for this? >> it is a complication. what we are basically doing is beginning a process that is not going to begin and end on january 28th. we're putting the people

together and the people in place to start this as a regular routine, welcome home. we know we have a lot of folks that are in afghanistan tonight. the work we do now will help us make sure we're ready to welcome them home when they come home, too. they're not forgotten. believe me, everybody involved in this knows if you were in a ro -- iraq, you were probably in afghanistan, too. we'll be ready when they come home, i promise. >> i'm guessing people can still make donations on the facebook page? >> i really hope they do. grassroots is an overused word, but we're paying as we go. we really are. we've got big goals for this. money aside, we hope you donate to the party, come to the page and help. but really, this is their day. tom and i and the organization are going all out, let's have a parade for vets, by vets, vets' families. you served in the iraq war, if

you served in the post-9/11 wars, come out. we'll get you in union station. this is america's party. we want everybody here for this. >> craig schneider, one of the organizers for the welcome home vets next week. keep us apprised as you're setting up, okay? >> when you're off air, i've got a question for you but it's not for your show. >> oh. how provocative. thanks, craig. remember, there's more information about this event on our web site. now i need to go talk to craig off air. i don't know about what. right after this show, lawrence mcdonnell hopes to break down the republican debate. and here, the hottest video i've seen in a long time.  [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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we don't usually do this on this show, but today and in this case i think it's warranted. by now you have heard the news that congress woman gabrielle giffords is stepping down a just over a year ago, an apparently crazed kid with a black handgun and a magazine with bullets tried to assassinate congresswoman giffords. he killed six people, wounded 13. gabrielle was shot in the head,

grievously wounded. she has recovered, amazingly since then, but has now decided to step down from congress to focus on her continued recovery. as i said we don't usually do this. but have you seen what she did to announce she is stepping down? it's very short, and in my opinion, you totally owe it to yourself to watch this. >> arizona is my home, always will be. a lot has happened over the past year. we cannot change that, but i know on the issues we fought for we can change things for the better. jobs, border security, veterans. we can do so much more by working together.

i don't remember much from that horrible day, but i will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice. thank you for your prayers and for giving me time to recover. i have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what is best for arizona, i will step down this week. i'm getting better. every day. my spirit is high. i will return and we will work together for arizona and this great country. thank you very much.

video made by gabby giffords to announce that she is stepping down from congress. seeing her now and seeing that enter spersed of video with her before this madman shot her is very, very moving. congresswoman giffords met with other victims of the shooting today. she will attend the state of the union address in congress tomorrow as will her husband. who will sit with the first lady in the box seats at the address. on wednesday, we have just found out the house will take up gabrielle giffords final bill, will take it up under expedited terms. a bill to crack down on ultra light aircraft used in cross border smuggling. then by june at the latest, arizona will pick someone new for gabrielle giffords' seat in

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in indiana today, the state senate republicans decided to welcome the patriots and the giants to the super bowl in indianapolis in two weeks by voting to strip union rights in the state. the nfl players association, the players union has put itself loudly on the side of the state democrats and those who are fighting mitch daniels' plan there. a breakaway group of pro-union rights, republicans, a group called the lynch tail republicans, announced plans to run pro-union rights primary challengers against two republicans in the legislature who are going along with the union stripping plan. if the prospect of protests, including the nfl players association at the super bowl were not high profile enough around this issue, well, then, republican governor mitch daniels is giving the republican party official state of the union response tomorrow night. it puts that much more of a spotlight on his state and how his union busting agenda seems to be tearing apart both his state and his party.

and, meanwhile, as the republican candidates for president fight to outgay each other -- that would be a totally different thing -- fight to totally anti-gay fight each other, when he ran for governor in massachusetts with rick santorum pledging to go against gay rights, as he always had, and also gay marriage if he's elected president, mr. santorum also vowed to recloset the military by unrepaeling don't ask, don't tell. he pledged not just to overturning gay rights but not to cheat highways wives anymore as such a pledge earns him. with candidates, it turns out

things do get better. maryland's candidate martin o'malley said he would legalize same sex marriage in maryland, and the mayor pledged her support for gay marriage. a state senator named marilyn hogan announced she would support the bill. she said, i know this announcement makes me the so-called 25th vote, a vote of passage. she said she needed time to recognize my beliefs as an american, as a legislator, as a wife and mother who can't deny to others the joys and benefits i enjoy. this is the right vote and it is the vote i will cast when this measure comes to the floor. and, meanwhile, also today we had some serious and worrying news. from the family and from the office of republican senator

mark kirk of illinois. senator kirk was elected in 2010 to the illinois senate seat previously held by president obama. mr. kirk is 52 years old. he's a former naval intelligence officer. on saturday, senator kirk checked himself into a chicago hospital because he was experiencing dizziness and headaches. doctors at that first hospital diagnosed a stroke caused by a problem with a carotid artery, an artery in the neck. it was apparently blocking the blood flow to the senator's brain. so that checking into the hospital was on saturday. on sunday, they transferred him to a different hospital and rushed the senator into surgery because of swelling on the right side of his brain. doctors say in the three-hour surgery they removed a 3"x4" section of skin. the doctors told reporters fortunately the stroke was not because thatould ae